Chapter 10
Connor
Tai slips out of my lap, ignoring my quiet whine as I try to hold him there a little longer.
I’m already addicted to the solid weight of him on top of me.
I’m obsessed with every detail—the sweet blueberry scent that always seems to surround him, the gentle tickle of his long hair against my cheek, and the way his Adam’s apple bobs when he swallows.
The effortless way he makes me laugh, and how desperately I want to kiss him.
Tai approaches the woman beside the stage and pulls her into a conversation. After the off-key singer currently butchering Shania Twain finishes her performance and stumbles off, the employee steps up to the microphone.
“If you’ll give us just a few minutes, we have a special treat in store for you tonight.”
Tai climbs onto the stage and Cho screams his name from the crowd.
A piano sits at the side of the stage. There’s something incredibly sexy about the quiet confidence he projects as he walks over like he owns it.
An employee follows, adjusting a microphone to his height as he settles onto the bench.
The lights dim slightly as Tai’s fingers spread across the keys, but nothing prepares me for the melody that punches out of the instrument.
Heavy chords fill the air in a song I recognize but can’t quite place.
His eyes drift closed, and he doesn’t even watch his hands as the melody pours out like liquid silk.
Then he opens his mouth, and the rest of the world simply disappears.
Every nook and cranny, every cobweb-filled corner of my mind is replaced by him. Tai’s voice washes over me like a gentle summer rain—warm and smooth, mournful and melancholic. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.
I jump to my feet and push through the crowd, determined to reach him. Awed faces watch his every move, drinking in the smooth vocals that coat the room like warm honey. Finally, I step up to the stage just as he reaches the chorus.
He takes a deep breath, pushing more power into the song.
Goosebumps rise across my skin, and I’m transfixed, not even blinking.
The crowd swarms closer to the stage, but Tai radiates calm in a way I’ve never witnessed before.
His hands glide effortlessly over the ivories, his head tilted toward the light with a serene smile on his face.
I’m speechless.
Breathless.
For the most incredible four minutes of my life, I am completely mesmerized as I watch him perform. When the song ends and the last chord fades into silence, he opens his eyes to the overwhelming cheers of the room.
He finds me in an instant, and that confidence shifts into something sheepish. The powerhouse musician fades into a sweet, almost shy man who tosses a modest wave to the audience as he steps down from the stage.
Words won’t come to me, so I simply take his hand and lead him outside, where the balmy night air wraps around us. Most people had flocked indoors the moment he began playing, so out here on the decks, the crowd is thin.
“Where are we going?” Tai asks, a touch of amusement in his tone as I practically drag him around a corner.
When I finally find a secluded spot, I whirl to face him and nudge his shoulders until his back meets the wall.
My throat is thick as I rest my forearm above him and lean in close.
“That was amazing.” Moonlight dances across his skin, the night sky reflecting in his eyes as he looks up at me.
In this moment, he’s so beautiful he doesn’t even seem real. “You are amazing,” I whisper.
“What are you doing, Connor?” His voice is so calm, so fucking level, while I feel like I’m about to lose my mind.
“I don’t know,” I admit, inching closer. “I don’t have any idea what I’m doing right now, Tai, but I’m sick of fighting this.”
He swallows, never looking away. “I can’t promise you anything past this week.”
My eyes close as I really consider what this might mean.
I’m not an idiot—I know it would have to be temporary.
It would be a vacation romance with the potential to reshape my entire life.
There’d be bittersweet memories that would make me smile every time they came to mind, but they’d also break me.
I don’t do casual.
I know how much this will hurt.
“This is going to kill me,” I say, giving voice to the thought. “When we have to leave, this will tear me apart.”
“Me too,” he whispers.
A lump forms in my throat. My heart is already breaking over a connection that hasn’t even fully happened yet. It’s breaking for what we could be. I open my eyes and find his serious as he stares up at me. “But if I don’t do something, I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life.”
“So do something,” he begs.
That’s all it takes.
The last stubborn bit of control slips away as I close the distance between us and finally claim his lips.
A quiet, desperate whimper escapes him, laced with urgency that makes me shiver.
Cinnamon explodes across my tongue as I kiss him, soft and slow, memorizing every detail of how his lips feel against mine.
My arm locks around his waist and I tug him closer, sliding my thigh between his legs as another of those addicting little noises slips free.
There is a deliberate slowness to our movements as we kiss, both of us savoring the experience of learning each other.
One of his hands slides up to my jaw, his palm scraping gently against the roughness of my stubble.
“There’s that hairy beast,” he murmurs.
I smile and nuzzle my nose against his, then give his lip a teasing nip. “You like it.”
“Yeah, I really do,” he whispers. “I like everything about you, Connor.” He draws in a long, steady breath, as if gathering courage, then dives headfirst back into the kiss—like he’ll need the air to survive the plunge.
My arm leaves the wall so I can run my fingers through his hair, tugging his head gently to the side as I deepen the kiss. “Open for me, sweetheart,” I whisper against his lips. He whimpers softly and parts them for me, his tongue meeting mine in a slow, languid, winding dance.
My entire body ignites at the velvety heat of his mouth. Our kiss grows more urgent. My fist is tangled in his hair, and it’s the only thing anchoring me to reality. A moan passes between us as my thigh presses and rubs against his groin, his hips rolling in a slow, controlled thrust against me.
I break the kiss just enough to stare at him, heavy-lidded and pleasure-drunk in my arms. “This is a good look for you,” I whisper, nuzzling his nose once more before using my grip on his hair to tilt his head and expose the long line of his throat.
I kiss a slow trail from his jaw down to his neck, pausing to lavish attention on his Adam’s apple.
His moans vibrate against my lips as I suck gently, giving that spot the devotion I’ve wanted to since the first moment I laid eyes on him.
My tongue traces along his jawline, savoring the taste of his skin, before I nip at the hinge of his jaw and finally return to his waiting mouth.
“Why are you so good at this?” he breathes, his fingers digging into my lower back as he tugs me even closer.
“Good at what?” I ask, dragging my teeth lightly across his bottom lip
He groans, louder than he probably intends. “Kissing.” He weaves a hand through my hair and pulls me back so our eyes meet again. “I’ve never been kissed like this.”
“Like what?”
“Like you want to eat me alive,” he says, his fingertips slipping under the hem of my shirt to trace the top of my waistband. A pleased grin curves across his face when my hips jerk forward, my cock thick and obvious behind my shorts. “Like you’ll die without me.”
“I might,” I reply, nipping at his lips again. “Certainly feels that way.”
He silences me with a kiss so forceful it steals the breath from my lungs, sliding his tongue into my mouth and making me forget my own name. Minutes fade away, unnoticed, as we devour each other. We’re completely entwined, every inch of our bodies pressed tightly together.
When he finally breaks away, his lips are swollen and his eyes are heavy-lidded. He breathes hard, resting his forehead against mine. “Holy shit,” he whispers.
A huge smile spreads across my face. “Yeah,” I whisper back, tucking his hair behind his ear. “Holy shit.”
Voices ring out from around the corner, growing closer, so I reluctantly slide my thigh from between his legs and let his body rest back against the wall.
Recognizing that he’s just as affected as I am, I step in closer, canopying over him to shield him from view.
No one else is allowed to see him like this.
“Oh,” a surprised voice gasps behind us. I lift my lip in a snarl and swivel my head. The handsy bridesmaid, Teri, is walking with someone I don’t recognize, her mouth hanging open at the sight of me pressed over Tai.
“Need something?” I demand.
Tai breathes a quiet laugh against my chest.
“N-no,” she stutters, her eyes darting between the two of us.
“Be a doll then, and move along.”
Teri sputters some nonsense before scurrying away. I turn back to Tai. “Sorry if I just made you the center of the wedding drama.”
“She won’t tell anyone.”
“What makes you say that?”
He grins, gesturing in the direction she disappeared. “She was bragging to her friend earlier that she thought I was into her. She’ll never admit that not only was she wrong, but…” His grin turns wicked. “She was really wrong.”
We both laugh, and I fall forward, leaning my weight against him.
“The boat won’t be back to port for at least another hour,” I murmur, swooping down to plant another lingering kiss on his lips. “What do you want to do?”
His fingers glide under my shirt and drift slowly up my stomach. I grunt softly as my already excited cock flexes against my zipper. “You owe me, chippoke,” he says, his voice dropping into a low, teasing purr.
“Tell me what that means.”
Tai grins and leans in, tilting his face up in a silent request. I grip his jaw gently and kiss him again. Only when I pull back does he finally whisper against my lips, “Tiny.”
“What?”
His grin turns downright mischievous as he turns his head and slips my finger between his lips. I shudder when he gives it a slow, gentle suck.
“Chippoke means tiny.”
“You’ve been calling me tiny this whole time?” I demand.
He nods, and the pure happiness radiating from his face steals my breath away. I push his hair back from his forehead and press a kiss there.
“You still owe me,” he says softly.
“What do I owe you, sweet thing?”
He rises onto his tiptoes and brings his mouth close to my ear. “You owe me a karaoke song.”
I wrap my arms around him. “I take it back. You aren’t sweet at all, are you?”
He breaks away and takes my hand, tugging me along behind him. “Come on, big guy. It’s your turn to sing.”